Court upholds ruling in theft case involving Burlington woman

The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the theft conviction of a former Chicago lawyer who bilked a Burlington woman of thousands of dollars. Prosecutors say Wilfred Rice stole 172-thousand dollars from Dorothy Schramm of Burlington. Rice left his law practice in Chicago in 1993, and changed his name to Robert Murphy. He moved in with Schramm and prosecutors say he forged her signature on checks and deposit slips that transferred money out of a trust. Schramm testified she never gave Rice permission to sign anything, and didn’t even know his real name. But Rice — that’s his real name — appealed his conviction, claiming the evidence presented during his trial wasn’t sufficient. The Court of Appeals disagrees, and has upheld his conviction.